Portland General Electric Corp. (PGE) has slashed its operating costs, increased its capital expenditures and redirected its operations to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, and that is likely to continue for the rest of this year.

CEO Maria Pope and CFO Jim Lobdell underscored all of this on Friday during a 2Q2020 earnings conference call reporting “solid results.” A combination of favorable hydro supplies, good wind conditions, and lowering operating costs offset the Covid-19 impacts.

“As an essential provider, we will continue working to keep costs low to support economic recovery and the communities we serve in this unprecedented time,” Pope said. “The second half of this year remains a challenge with retail deliveries and power market margins likely to be...